Release from IHRA:

In a little over two weeks many of the best drivers from across the nation will converge on Rockingham Dragway for the running of the 2009 Sportsman Tournament of Champions.

Featuring an assortment of national and special event winners and Summit Pro-Am champions from the 2009 racing season, the inaugural Tournament of Champions will determine the very first IHRA sportsman champions via on-track competition. Regardless of money, location and especially gender, from this collection of sportsman superstars will be seven World Champions crowned as undisputed champions for the first time in IHRA history.

And of the dozens of drivers currently holding a spot on the championship ladder are five women itching for their chance to make history in trying to become the first female sportsman champion since Brenda Grubbs claimed the Stock title in 2002.

In fact, in the history of the IHRA, only two women have ever claimed a sportsman championship in IHRA competition. Other than Grubbs the other female champion was Ann Peto who claimed the Modified title in 1989 and 1990.

“I think it would be an honor to win a world championship because it is a title not many people – men or women – can say they have,” said Stock competitor Lisa Bolton. “Regardless of who you are a championship is the ultimate goal of most racers and it would certainly be special to add my name to that list.”

Bolton is one of five female TOC participants competing at Rockingham later this month along with fellow Stock drivers Hillarey Sloan and Jeanne Linke, Quick Rod driver Lisa Collier and Super Stock competitor Missy Phillips.

All five are thrilled about the opportunity to compete for a world title and some are even a bit excited to make a few grown men shed a tear or two in the process.

“I don’t think gender makes a difference behind the wheel, but I have noticed that there are some guys who have a harder time losing to a woman,” Bolton said. “I think it is because they are often times teased for getting beat by a girl.”

“There is the occasional competitor or fan who looks down on women drivers, people who assume we really don’t know anything about racing or cars,” Collier added. “And every once in a while there’s a guy that really doesn’t like to get beat by a girl. Overall, though, I really don’t think about it.

“Once we strap into that race car all things are equal.”

Bolton has been racing since 1992 when, after years of watching her husband compete, she decided it was her turn to give straight-line racing a try. And from the moment she strapped into a vehicle she knew this was the sport for her.

“I used to go to the races to watch Eddi

e, but eventually I grew tired of just watching. One night he unhooked the tow vehicle and let me drive. From the first time down the track I was hooked,” Bolton said.

Over the next few years the pair traveled the country competing at various events culminating with Bolton’s husband claiming the first family title when he won the Hot Rod championship in 2002. Now, eight years later, Lisa is ready to add her own trophy to the family mantle.

“My husband won the Hot Rod World Championship in 2002 and at that time I could only hope to win my own championship one day,” Bolton said. “If I could win the championship it would be even more impressive because there aren’t too many husband and wife teams racing together. And for both of us to be World Champions would be pretty special.”

Some of Bolton’s toughest competitors, however, are two fellow female Stock drivers including one that she met in an all-girl Summit Pro-Am final at Maryland International Raceway last year.

That racer is 25-year-old Jeanne Linke.

Linke certainly doesn’t look the part of your average racer. Standing at 5-foot-2 and weighing in at roughly 110 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes, Linke certainly doesn’t fit the bill as your typical driver. But whatever you do, don’t doubt her abilities on the track.

Linke is a multi-time event winner and earned her spot in the tournament via a championship in the Patriots Division on the Summit Pro-Am Tour. She got her first taste of racing at the age of four when she attended races with her father and uncle and has been around the sport ever since.

“I basically grew up around that particular crowd. At age 13 I began racing Junior Dragsters at my home track of Old Bridge Township Raceway Park and have been doing this ever since,” Linke said. “I was an athlete and participated in basketball so between that and traveling to races with my dad I raced juniors for fun.

“When I reached my senior year I decided to continue racing for fun while commuting to Kean University. It is just fun being the girl of our guy group. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

While racing has always been a part of Linke’s life, her looks have often times drawn second glances from the competition. But on the racetrack she always enjoys proving that she belongs.

“Because I consider myself one of the guys being a girl never really becomes a factor. I support my racing off my paychecks and tow the car myself and I’ve never felt the intimidation that some girls talk about,” Linke said. “But I loved racing against Lisa Bolton last year in the all-female final at MIR. I have to admit that I didn’t feel like one of the guys in that particular race.

“I was more nervous racing against a girl than anyone else because it rarely happens. It would be amazing if the championship could come down to us once again.”

Along with Linke and Bolton the third piece to the Stock trio is Hillarey Sloan.

Sloan is a fourth generation racer with both her parents and grandparents racing over the years. Sloan even admits that her first pass in a race car came before she was even born.

“My mom raced when she was pregnant with me so I guess it got in my blood early,” Sloan said. “It was pretty much a way of life for me from very early on.”

Sloan has been anxiously awaiting this tournament since the event was rained out at the end of last year. Just to have an opportunity at a championship is one thing, but being placed on a tournament ladder with all things equal has Sloan thrilled about the opportunity in front of her.

“I have been looking forward to this all winter. My dad came close to winning a championship in IHRA Modified Eliminator years ago and I would love to be able to achieve that goal for him,” Sloan said. “It would mean the world to him and to me.

“I would feel very accomplished if I were to win the TOC because I know that I will be competing against the best of the best.”

While the trio of female competitors in Stock are more than capable of adding their name to the list of women champions, it will be a bit of a tougher climb for two other competitors.Lisa Collier and Missy Phillips are the lone female representatives in their classes and both are anxious for their shot at a title.

Quick Rod driver Collier is the daughter of three-time IHRA Top Sportsman champion Gary Bingham and both drove their way into the history books last season with both father and daughter winning at the same national event thus ensuring the possibility of a family championship in Rockingham.

“My dad is a great example to me. He wins with honor and loses with honor and he has taught me everything I know about racing,” Collier said. “It was incredibly thrilling to win with him in Epping last year. We seem to feed off of each other’s enthusiasm and energy.

“It will be fun and exciting to compete for a championship together on the same day. I can’t imagine how awesome it will be if we both win.”

Along with winning her first national event Collier was also recently married making for a year unlike any other in 2009. If she can cap that year with a championship later this month it would be a fitting end to a storied season.

“I would feel a great sense of accomplishment and gain a lot of confidence in the rest of my racing career if I could win a championship,” Collier said. “I just have to thank everyone for helping me get here. Now it is up to me to go out and try to win this thing.”

Super Stock driver Phillips brings to the Tournament of Champions the most experience of the bunch and has seen firsthand what it means for so many young women to have the opportunities they have today. Phillips spent her childhood at a small track owned by her family which paved the way for her to get into the sport herself.

She admits it wasn’t easy starting out, but she has persevered and it has helped shape the person and driver she is today.

“When I first started racing in the mid 80s there were not a lot of women in the sportsman ranks like there are now. I remember qualifying on Saturday and leaving the track without checking the qualifying sheet to see who I had to run. When I got back to the track on Sunday morning people would be telling how my first round opponent was bragging about how he was going to spank me and send me home crying,” Phillips said. “Today that has changed because there are more of us out there and we have certainly shown that we can be just as competitive.”

So after years of paying her dues, what would it mean to cap her sportsman career with a championship at “The Rock”

“It would be very special. I have won nationals and divisional and years ago determined that I would never win a World Championship because of the time it would take away from my family.

“With the tournament that part is out of the equation so just being able to have the opportunity is great. There are a lot of great drivers in Stock and Super Stock that are great competitors and sportsman and for me to be able to race with them is a privilege.”

The inaugural Tournament of Champions will take place Friday, April 30 at Rockingham Dragway the day before the Nitro Jam event May 1-2.

Don’t miss the best sportsman drivers from across the globe later this month at “The Rock.”